How Can One Book Change My Life - 12

Christian welcome to 30 point we give the vision is the Bible. Just another book is God's revelation of himself to humanity that I don't throw your bosses your submissions for each tendency is the anointed son for today's message. How can one book changed my life. Thank you for joining us here on Turning Point how we can position and were happy to have you along as we look at Psalm 19 and discover how one book can change our lives today. As I read this Psalm is that God is not left us without answers he has revealed himself to us. Isn't that incredible God who created the world. The God who is our Creator has taken the time and the effort to reveal himself to us so that we could know him. In fact, this saw is about God's revelation of himself to man. It's wonderful as it points out the three areas were God has chosen to reveal himself. First of all, God has revealed himself in the skies since the psalmist that he has revealed himself in the Scriptures. Finally, and most practically God has revealed himself in our very soul. The progress of the psalmist from God's natural revelation in the world to God's specific Revelation in his word. There is not a better testimony to God's love for his people than the 19th Psalm which tells us how God has loved us and how he has revealed himself to us in the skies we see his glory in the Scriptures we see his greatness and in our sole we since his grace, so I want you to walk with me through the words of this song today as we ask ourselves the question, how could one book change anybody's life before we get to that book. We need to walk past that revelation of God in glory in the skies.

We've all memorized. If we've been to church very long. Some of these words the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows his handiwork and in the eighth Psalm it talks about the moon and the stars. Somebody said that's the night Psalm in this Psalm, it talks about the sun in the heavens.

That's the base whether it's night or day God through his creation has revealed himself to us. And while this is not the main focus of what I want to share with you today. We can't pass over the six verses without making some observations about God's revelation of himself in the skies. Please note 1st of all, that this revelation is an undeniable message. He says in the heavens and in the firmament.

He has shown forth his handiwork. Word firmament really means the expanse of God's creation. It's as if God has written in the sky. Everywhere you look a finger that points back to the creator so that no matter where you go in this great universe. All you have to do is look up and there is an undeniable testimony to the creator God. Not only is this revelation of God in the skies. An undeniable message but read on and discover that it's an unending message it says night and tonight and day to day God show forth his power. It's like the day takes the glory of God and hands it off to the night and the night.

Lets it shine and when it's finished it hands off back to the day.

So whether it's day or night. God is always sending out his message that he is the powerful creator of the world.

Not only is it undeniable and unending, but it is universal. Read what the song says there is no speech says the psalmist nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out throughout all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In the New Testament the writers pick up on the 19th Psalm, especially Paul in the book of Romans, and he's trying to demonstrate it is writing in Romans chapter 1 that all of the world is guilty before God. One of the most often asked questions, especially if you get in the college groups where people feel I can really go for your jugular vein is a teacher they want to know about the heathen in Africa. They want to know about the people who've never been about Jesus Christ and India or in some part of the globe where the world message of the gospel has not been spoken and you know what Paul said Paul said in Romans chapter 1 and verse 20 for since the creation of the world his invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that says the writer. They are without excuse. I don't pretend to comprehend all of that, but I've read enough stories from the mission field. I read enough testimony from men and women who've gone the places where nobody has ever told him about Jesus Christ as they have in their animistic ways tried to worship the sun and the stars the moon they come to the realization that there has to be something beyond that something behind it and the nurse searching for the truth behind the creation God has brought them into an encounter with the gospel message of Jesus Christ.

What Paul is saying is that there's enough revelation in God's creative work, so that if man would just follow the revelation God is given him it would take him to the knowledge of who God is. But what if we done once again Paul says we taken the creation and we worship the creation instead of the creator and so all over the world wherever you see pagan people you see them bowing down to the sun bowing down to the moon worshiping the stars and by the way we worship the stars in this country. Don't wait while the psalmist wants us to understand that God has spoken in the skies, and he's told us the story of his glory.

Not only is it an undeniable message and an unending message but it is universal. It is everywhere. In fact, I love what the psalmist said. He says their line has gone throughout all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. This is the surveyor's line of the psalmist gives us the picture of the survey are surveying all the world and when he finished surveying all the world. There's no place for God's testimony in his creative work has not been preached. I wish I had time to talk to you about the center of the psalmist picture in the sun as she win we must hasten on to the next section, God's wonderful message told in the glory of the skies, but secondly, God's wonderful message told in the greatness of the Scriptures. Beginning in verse seven. Psalmist switches is geared from talking about the creation into talking about the written word. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul, the testimony, the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. And if you read those verses again you will discover that there are six groups of three. The psalmist is clever and creative in helping us to understand how powerful is this book we call the Bible. He tells us first of all, that it is a book which cannot be described in one word, so go down through your Bible and look at the words he uses.

He talks about the law and the testimony of the statutes and the commandments of the fear and the judgments. These are all the titles of the word of God which are listed for here in the 19th down through the centuries, the Bible has always been something that is been hated and scorned is something that has created a great deal of opposition and men have gone out of their way to try to abolish it.

Volunteers satire and Ingersoll slandering Hitler soldiers and Bishop Pike skepticism. All of this is turned to be human hammers that are broken on the end goal of God's word. They wear themselves out on the Bible and he never seem to get anywhere the centuries emperors have demanded the destruction of the Bible, church leaders have placed their superstitious traditions over it.

Smart seminary professors have written it off as being beneath her sophisticated scholarship. But the Bible defiantly victoriously convincingly still stands. The Bible's pages.

Continue to tell the grace of God and the message remains the only an errant infallible complete revelation that man has ever gotten from his living God. And so today we look back on history and all the critics and we realize that in a strange way. Moses has outlived Voltaire and Isaiah has outlasted Ingersoll and the apostles of outsmarted the agnostics and the prophets of overpowered the professors. The Bible still stands as God's wonderful message to man the six titles tell us of the majesty of God's word but after the six titles after reading of the law on the testimony of the statute and the commandment in the fear of the judgments we see the six descriptions read back through that text again and you will discover that here the Bible is described in six ways. It is perfect.

It is sure it is right in his pure is clean and it is true. I wish I had time to take every one of those descriptions and tell you all the truth. It's wrapped up in them.

The Bible is perfect. The Bible is sure, you can count on it. The Bible is right.

It's always right.

The Bible is pure. The Bible is clean and the Bible is true.

The law of the testimony, the statutes, the commandments, perfect, pure, clean, true psalmist literally uses 18 different expressions to try to get our attention.

The importance of centering our thoughts on God's word, but the last six words have to do with its effectiveness doesn't really change your life. I mean come on Pastor, I know you're paid to say stuff like this, but does the Bible really change your life. Let me tell you, I am absolutely certain about what I'm going to say to you about the Scripture. I know this is true. This is what the Bible will do for you.

Psalmist says it will restore your soul refreshing your inner life like food does your body the King James says, converting the soul. And that reminds us that there is no way that you can even come to know God. Apart from the Scriptures, but the one thing the Bible will do for you that you can't find any other book that will ever do for you is the Bible deal with your soul. The Bible deal with the real you, not the external façade that you walk around in, but the real you.

The Bible get down deep in the way you look and help you understand who you are and if you take it at face value, you will discover that this book begins to refresh you and restore you and sometimes is a little bit of tearing down first is that there sometimes the Bible has to tear out all the bad so that he can begin to build up that which is good, but I promise you that. I know this book will do that it will restore your soul. Keep reading.

Not only will it restore your soul with the Bible will renew your mind. Psalmist says that it makes wise the simple. It gives practical guidance to the inexperienced. But you know many women that there is wisdom in this book for every situation you face. I found help in this book for my family. I found help in this book for my financial challenges I found help in this book for health. Believe it or not, the book has some very interesting principles about health. I found help in this book about discipline.

I discovered some hard truths in this book about the fact that the Christian life doesn't just descend upon you, but godliness comes through discipline. This book makes you wise.

Psalmist says it will rejoice your heart, bringing delight and pleasure to you when you obey it. It rejoices your heart.

Keep reading what else will do it renews your mind, it rejoices your heart, it'll refocus your vision. Psalmist says that the Bible enlightens the eye, illuminating the dark. You know what this book is done for me. It's helped me to stay off of a lot of dead-end streets. It's given me wisdom and knowledge so that I've had kind of. I've always said to my wife. It's 1/6 sense, no it's not. It's a biblical sense.

It's the awareness of biblical principles that I may not even pull out at the time that I've learned in that I've been taught that I've read and when I start going the direction there's an uncomfortable feeling that comes in I get my focus changed in its focus now because God's word is help me if you want to have a biblical lifestyle.

It's not about a bunch of rules and a whole list of do's and don'ts.

It's about getting into the book and the word of God will get into the sinners in the lash of your being, so that when you start to walk in the direction the word of God will keep you from getting into trouble. Many of you would like to have the ability to read the word of God to such a degree that you have a sense when somebody's trying to put a scam on it. Somebody started taking down a dead-end street, take your money.

Take away the things that are important to you how many would like to read the word of God so much that when you see your children heading in the direction used have a sense that that's not good you can sit down and help them understand that's what this book will do.

It'll refocus your vision and then it says it'll remain forever word of God is eternal. You know, I thought about this week.

If God allows his son to Terry. His coming doesn't come for another 50 years they'll still be preaching the same book. 50 years from now and applying its truth to that generation. Anyway just as accurate and just as powerful as it is today because it is a timeless book, the principles live up here most of the books we buy.

The data are outdated and couple months a lot of people that I talk with in the medical field and in engineering feel so they have to keep reading and reading because the stuff they read last month is already dated, but the word of God is timeless. It remains forever, and finally the psalmist says that it will refute any critic, the mutual parts.

Explain and defend one another. Did you know that it says it is righteous altogether. What that means is that it's parts come together in defense of itself.

Do you have any idea how many people have made it their life's work to try to totally destroy the word of God. All the critics of made it their life's work to destroy the credibility word of God.

Not one of them's ever been able to do it. One of the great translators. The Bible is a man by the name of Tyndale Tyndale was a distributor.

The word of God, he translated any printed and distributed in the midst of the great distribution under Tyndale make the government the king got angry and wanted to get these Bibles out of circulation because they were attacking the national church, so we had a friend go and see if he could get all the Bibles the Tyndale had printed. He said whatever it takes by them just by him and destroy him. But I came in talk Tyndale out of the Bibles. Tyndale just gave an exorbitant price he paid the price took the Bibles when destroy them and Tyndale use the money from the Bibles that he bought to print 30 times as many Bibles as he already had any distribute these Bibles all over the king came and wanted to know when the world and get the money, and his friend said you paid for the Bibles that he distributor is in a great I think God sits in heaven. He laughs at the foolishness of men who try to destroy God's word because it's beyond instruction pointing something if that's true, if what I'm telling you is true, why in the world when we want to get our heads and our hearts into this book. There something special about this book.

In fact read the next few verses and you will see more to be desired are they than gold data much fine gold sweeter than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them your servant is warned and in keeping them there is great reward. You talk about a guarantee that sort like the stuff that's written on the bottom of the product. This is what it says it says there is great possession in the Bible for those who will discover it for gold is good fine gold is better much fine gold is better, yet God's word is better than much fine gold, it's better than the best and there's great pleasure in the Bible for those who seek it.

Honey is good and the droppings of the honeycomb were very sweet, but the word of God is sweeter still. And there's great protection in the Bible for those who believe that the word of God not only encourages us, it warns us, it constrains us and restrains us and opens doors before us and closes doors against us. That's what the Bible does and there's great profit in the Bible for those who will obey it in the keeping of it, there is great reward.

Not in the future only, but even here now the Bible while what an incredible book. I don't like to try to get you to do something out of guilt really don't and I'm not here to make you feel guilty if you're in the 23% and never read the Bible. Shame on you, but it's not my problem.

Church right I don't want to come here today and say boy you people you know read the Bible in your to be ashamed.

That's not you know my heart is. I just want to be what you miss.

I want encourage. If you have never taken seriously. This book, you need to do that. Another so many incredible helps that are available for you to get in to God's word. I want to give you two responses to responses to the revelation of God in the skies and to the revelation of God in the Scriptures. First of all, the revelation of God in the skies, you know, when you see the glory of God in the skies, folks, I hope you never get to the place where you take for granted that you know that God who did that and sometimes when I stand at the edge of the ocean and I hear the surf break against the shore and I watched the rolling tide and I hear that most majestic sound that we know because were a seacoast city.

I think as I look out at the incredible expanse of it all. I know the one who did that by knowing I'm not name dropping friends. I'm telling the truth. I know and even in the silence when it sometimes scary and you hear the howl of the wind or maybe the storm comes in the thunder and the lightning crash all about you in that is the revelation of my God you know I'm not in need of God's revelation to come to know his son because I already knowing what I am grateful for the revelation of God. I think I'm growing in my appreciation of it. More and more each day that God's creative work in nature is one way that he continually reminds us of his power, and of his Majesty and so I stand it all of God's glory written in the skies and I also stand in awe of God's greatness written in the Scriptures I want to just ask you a couple of things about God's glory God's greatness in the Scriptures. If all the things I've told you were true and let's just assume for a moment. They are God's word can do everything that I tell you on the word of God can do when it makes sense that it be great to get into a routine to read the Scriptures a little bit every day. Publishers have taken the word of God and organize them so that their chronologically in the right order and every day you just open to the date and in the book. It gives you all the Scripture to read for that day. You don't have to turn from the old to the New Testament just read it all. Then the next day the rest of it. If you read that all the way through. From January to the end of December you will have read every word in the Bible you how long it takes.

It takes 15 minutes a day. In fact, you can read through the whole Bible in 72 hours. Did you know that and I told you I wasn't going to get on you but I want to do it right now for just a minute. I do know that the average American watches television in two weeks, 70 hours so that in the time that the average American watches television in two weeks you could read through the whole Bible from cover to cover so I'm not asking you to agree to the whole Bible from cover to cover him to say when it makes sense to take a moment and make a decision that you can read the Bible a little bit every day, then you want to get into some relationships where you're not ashamed to discuss what you read you the best thing you can do to keep yourself accountable talk about it with somebody else, it would try to encourage each other in the Scripture and reading the Bible. Most of us have got friends that if we want to work and we said you know what I found in the Scripture today they would think something really terrible happened to us and I'm not saying all your friends should be that way. But if you want to be faithful in reading the Scripture you need to have somebody husband or wife, a good friend who will help you stay accountable to your reading I can teach all the Bible, but I hope I can create a hunger and thirst within you that will make you want to get in the word of God for yourself.

That's the purpose of the pastor as we close today. Let me tell you story about somebody I read about that encouraged me his name was Lieut. Gen. William K. Harrison, the most decorated soldier in the 30th infantry division rated by Gen. Eisenhower is the number one infantry division in World War II.

Gen. Harrison was the first American to enter Belgium and he did it at the head of the Allied forces. This man was so decorated that he received every metal possible except the Congressional medal of honor.

He was honored with the distinguished silver cross the Silver Star, the bronze Star for valor and the Purple Heart.

He was one of the few generals to be wounded in action when the Korean War began, he served as Chief of Staff of the United Nations command and because of his character and self-control was ultimately Pres. Eisenhower's choice to head the long and tedious negotiations to end the Korean War.

Gen. Harrison was a soldier's soldier. He led a busy ultra busy life, but he was also an amazing man of the Scriptures when he was a 20-year-old West Point cadet.

He began reading the Old Testament through once a year in the New Testament four times a year. Gen. Harrison did this until the end of his life and even in the thick of war he maintain his commitment by catching up during the two and three day rest fights for replacement and refitting which follow battles so that when the war ended, he was right on schedule with his reading of the Scripture.

When at the age of 90 is failing eyesight no longer permitted his discipline. He had read the Old Testament, 70 times in the New Testament 280 times it is no wonder that the people who knew him said he was a man of godliness and wisdom and his wisdom was so incredible that people would come to him almost like they came to Solomon to ask his advice on just about any subject you can imagine.

And the Lord used him for 18 years to leave the officers Christian Fellowship when I learned from his life is twofold. First of all, that it is possible, even for the busiest of us to read the Bible. If we really put your mind to it is to simply going to decide God is giving you a will is give you determination you set your mind on the goal and you can do it. There's no question was simply civil pastor Jeremiah I'm up in years under read the Bible. So let's start now.

Just make up your mind to do it, sit down and write out a plan, get your little one year Bible if that's what it takes to get a reading schedule just say hey I'm not gonna die before I read the Bible. I'm going to read the Bible and I want to stay alive till I get it done.

Amen not only can you read the Bible when you're busy.

Harrison also teaches us what can happen when your mind is properly programmed. You get the word of God in your mind and it will change every area of your life and change your family.

It'll change your spiritual life your professional life that all the problems that you face will have a new picture, a new twist and you can come to understand what the psalmist meant when he wrote about the treasure of God's word.

In fact, he ended his Psalm with this prayer with the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, oh Lord, my strength and my Redeemer to know how the words of your mouth and the meditation of your heart can be acceptable to the Lord right here to skid in the book. Make it yours study and meditate upon it, make a purpose in your life you can be sure that the meditation of your heart will be acceptable to God.

This book can change your life. We hope you enjoyed today's Turning Point, weekend edition with Dr. David Jeremiah. You can hear this and other programs and get more information about a ministry by downloading the free Turning Point by developing smart phone or tablet by visiting our website that David Jeremiah./radio David davidjeremiah.org/radio.

You can also view Turning Point television on Friday to channel 730 Sunday morning tonight and I CCTV Sundays at 6:30 AM and Fridays at 1 PM.

We invite you to join us again next weekend is Dr. David Jeremiah. She is another powerful message from God's word on Turning Point, weekend edition thanks for taking time to listen to string these increased in size and all